Successful in his presidential campaign, 2016, Trump has enshrined and emulated living controversies from the depths of American society’s psyche. He has advocated and capitalized upon angst of many citizen’s valid grievances against the state. Additionally, Trump has echoed the long standing American right wing rhetoric; many of his statements can only be described as discriminatory and bigoted. Much of the commentary from Trump, echoes that of the extreme far right.

There is no doubt that many people echo sentiments, similar to that expressed by the likes of the KKK, and David Duke. Right wing extremists have proclaimed that it is their vote that succeeded the Trump vote. A question remains: is this true?

What we know, as evidenced through a plethora of academic research, theorizing and confirming that our Americas (namely Canada and USA) are built upon capitalist precepts that include white supremacy.

The privilege gained by the dominant society has been attained and maintained through injustices served upon the other(s). Our system is historically white supremacist and classist, some will claim a cultural predation and law entrenched in arcane supremacist doctrines. While others emphasizing that the power belongs to the nations descendants; albeit missing the context of indigenous peoples. Perhaps, the most intense shock for Trump’s critics is that merely the point that America is not all that different than it’s ever been.

While, the KKK may not have directly affected the voting majority per se, it is known that Klan’s (and kin networks) message is directly aligned with the ideological construct of Trump’s campaign, and the collective conscious of the voting majority in the USA. This was not ideologically distinguished from that of the Harper-era in Canada. In many contexts and applications of politic, the violent right wing extremist ideology and doctrine (e.g. KKK) is cut from the literal same social fabric as is Trump and his voting majority. This is not to say that all Trump voters are white supremacist. However, it is fair to argue that the absorption of collective consciousness has become what was white supremacist and could now be legitimately concluded as mono-ethno-centric in construct. This ethno-centric trend espouses hatred, on both the left and right wing majority and fringes.

Those identified as the left wing, often believe our societies have progressed away from racism and other arcane political practices. We only need to see the manifestation of the 2016 campaign to understand this is not true. The right wing proclaims the left wing is as bad, or worse, than the right wing; that the left wing who claim to be anti-fascist are demonstrating attributes of fascism themselves. Both, left and right, have turned into ugly polarizations of the other. Violence is brought forth, emerged, from both narratives, but there is a simple solution: building upon common ground through human relationships.

Trump merely mimics that which already exists. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand this. Trump is a mere expressive mouthpiece, a trumpet if you will, that has a platform of power that expresses what other groups have been doing for decades. Obviously what Trump has said and does coincides, and is congruent, to that of the voting majority in USA.

Expressively, the voting majority does concur with Trump. Those left wingers who are frustrated have emulated the aesthetic of their opponent, as they engage violent rhetoric and action on the streets. Citizens have a right to be angry and frustrated and to express that. However, it is unlikely that the right to expression is to include the right be violent in messaging and action. The left wing now demonstrates engagement similar to their right opponent. Polarizations and rock throwing do not resolve issues. Dialogue and education resolve these issues.

I have affirmed through formal education and research that of which the far right wing extremists have stated for decades; that their views are not foreign to that of the dominant colonial nations and culture of the Americas. I believed this to be true when I was young homeless street youth entrenched in right wing extremist doctrine, and now as an academic, practitioner, researcher and global citizen. Moreover, the actions of the left wing are turning ugly and violent, just as are the expressions of the right wing; including Trump himself.

The Revolution

Moving forward with the political reality and social mirror we gaze into, we know that the historic context of North American society is racist and continues to be; it is embedded into law and culture. The existence of racism, or white supremacy if you will, in law is undisputable. The question remains: can we overcome these arcane elements of our western ‘civilized’ society?

The American normalization of racialization, discrimination, hate, and supremacy combined with the lack of educational outcomes that foster practical critical thinking skills and the ability to practically identify and overcome logical fallacies will continue to result in a tidal wave of reemerging right wing politics, which continues to navigate ends of causing harm to identifiable groups seen as the other; as the dominant class (whether race or socio-economic) mainstays its power and privilege.

It is worrisome that the norm is still the social acceptability that people can conduct, and express, themselves in discriminatory fashions. More to this point, what is feared by most people is that both the left and right wing have become viscerally entrenched in acts of violence and hatred.

Hopefully the election of Donald Trump will demonstrate to those who are opposed, or reject, the dominant supremacist doctrines will collectively find a way to ensure our education systems construct and incorporate practical critical thinking skills and how to identify and overcome logical fallacies, which are embedded within our culture, institutions, law and politics. Only then can we engage dialogue.

The revolution needs to begin now. We need to overcome our arcane past of supremacist doctrines, and walk towards a future that includes all of us. Including those who hold racist views and have a long way to go. Our revolution must be education, not violence and hate. We must not embody the aesthetic of the arcane element that still grips onto power. We must become the change we want to see in the world. This can be achieved through transformative education and dialogue. Revolution through education.

About Daniel Gallant

Daniel is a social worker (MSW,RSW) and is a current student of law, who is also an emerging writer and has been published internationally in literary journals. Poetry is his primary creative processing tool, and also has published creative non-fiction (auto-biographic). He has a B.A. in First Nations Studies. I am a consultant for media, scholars, and government bodies about violent right wing extremism in Canada and a trained counsellor; Daniel offers services to individuals seeking to leave violent extremist lifestyles, and facilitates public speaking on matters of resiliency.
Daniel presents Scholars from the Underground Blog in order to promote transformation and to contribute to create safe spaces in society for true cultural transformation. Canada has to move from a racist nation to an inclusionary society. We are blessed to live in a space and time where we can now talk openly about these social issues. Daniel welcomes you to is Blogosphere.
http://scholarsfromtheunderground.com